The Tale of Lily Evans
by CaptainJilySwan
Summary: Lily Evans is at Hogwarts, a place she's had dreams about ever since Severus Snape told her about the brilliance of magic. She is keen to learn and keen to make new friends, but is disheartened when she meets the likes of the Potter boy. Will her thoughts change? Will she lose friends and gain others? Will she find romance?
1. Chapter 1

A/N – I started this story a long time ago on a different account, and I forgot the email address and password for it, so I can no longer access it. I took a long break from writing fanfiction, so that's why I've had to make this account. I am only reposting this because I want to continue it, and I plan on updating it regularly because I have new ideas for it. I really wanted this story to work out when I initially posted it, but I lost inspiration and never picked it up until now.

All that could be seen of Lily Evans was a blur, her bright red hair flying behind her, the movement making it seem like flames. Every breath she attempted to draw came out in a labored pant as a result of her sprint. She didn't know much about McGonagall, but she was guessing from what she saw at the Sorting ceremony that she wouldn't be as forgiving as most teachers when it came to tardiness. She internally kicked herself for taking extra time at breakfast.

She skidded to a halt as she found the correct classroom, plowing through two students in the process.

"S-Sorry" She managed, blowing some strands of hair from her face.

"Watch where you're going?"

She looked up to see her fellow Gryffindor and thorn in her side, Sirius Black, smirking at her. She rolled her eyes and rushed into the classroom, taking one of the many empty seats near the front. The din of the school bell resonated throughout the castle, alarming all students in the hallways that they were late. Sirius, accompanied by James Potter, strolled lazily into the room, acting as if they owned it. Though Sirius seemed to be more of a front man, it was James who let them to their seats. Much to Lily's displeasure, they were directly behind her.

"Oi, Black, isn't that the posh twit we saw on the train?" James said in a stage whisper to Sirius.

Lily felt her cheeks heat up and flood with color, but she tried her best to ignore them.

"Oh, and what's this? She's sitting alone. I reckon her only friend is that -= what was his name again? Oh, right – _Snivellus._"

Lily was determined to not crack under their taunts, so she set to organizing her quills and parchment on her desk. She found herself wishing that McGonagall would show up and silence the two idiots behind her. She rolled her eyes as they took turns impersonating her and Severus, mostly remarking on Severus's inability to find proper shampoo.

She nimbly picked up one of the larger quills and poised it carefully to the parchment. She took extra care in writing the date and subject atop the paper, preparing it for when she'd take notes. She would take as many as she could, and wouldn't stop even if her hand protested in pain. She was going to be the top of her class; a polar opposite to the idiots teasing her. She savored the thought of looking at their disappointed faces when they saw their horrid marks and cheered up slightly.

To her surprise, she heard things quiet down. Maybe they'd seen the teacher come in! She turned her head, but instead of being met with a strict gaze, she merely saw Potter looking at her innocently, twirling a quill between his fingers. She huffed indignantly, whipping her head around to the front of the room. She dropped her hand on her desk a bit too roughly and upset her quill arrangement.

While she busied herself to realign them, she felt a tugging sensation on the back of her head. She turned around to see James Potter fiddling with a small chunk of her hair. When her narrow eyes met his, he didn't look around or act ashamed.

"Just wanted to see if it would burn me." He said, grinning broadly.

Sirius roared with laughter next to him. Lily angrily swatted James's hand away, turning her face before they could see the red registering on her puffed out cheeks. Before she even knew what was happening, Sirius had reached over and knocked the quills off of her desk.

"You – You BULLY!" She shouted, allowing her anger to get the best of her.

Just as Sirius was about to come back with a snarky retort, a sharp voice sounded from the doorway.

"That is QUITE enough!"

There stood Minerva McGonagall, hair pulled back in a tight bun, mouth barely visible in a thin line, and a no nonsense look gleaming in her eyes.

"Sit down, Miss Evans. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor. I do NOT tolerate shouting in my classroom."

Lily didn't dare argue, so she grabbed for her quills, sat down, and dumped the clumsily on her desk. Tears stung her eyes and threatened to spill over, but before anyone could notice, she wiped them on the sleeves of her robe. It was only the first day of lessons and things were already going badly. Her ears burned as she listened to Sirius and James's gleeful snickers.

"Silence! Potter, Black, that means you." McGonagall barked.

That wiped the smiles from their stupid faces. The corners of Lily's lips twitched. She turned around for a brief moment as McGonagall tapped the board, causing letters to materialize from nowhere. James stuck his tongue out at Lily, clearly not fazed by being told off. It was then she decided that she hated this boy's guts.

The class drew on, the time filled with note-taking. Lily's hand flew quickly over the parchment, determined to soak in every single word. Eventually, her mind was sapped of the two arrogant boys and filled instead with new worries of being unable to transfigure the match placed in front of her into a needle.

She practiced her wand motions carefully, allowing no margin for error. In little to no time at all, a sharp, silver needle lay gleaming on her desk while other students were staring, dumbfounded into their textbooks or jabbing their wands through the air in frustration. When McGonagall stopped by her desk to examine her work, Lily could swear she saw a hint of a smile on her thin lips.

Lily enjoyed her victory so much, she asked for a second match and proceeded to transfigure it while the majority of the other students hadn't even managed their first. Her mood didn't alter but for one second, when she looked behind her and saw James smirking with three equally perfect needles on his desk. She shook him from her mind, and turned her attention back to her own brilliant work. She was so satisfied with herself, that when the lesson ended, she felt a bit sad. She gathered her things quickly, determined to tell off Black and Potter for getting her into trouble.

Even with her speed, they were still waiting directly outside the door. Black had his hand across the entrance so she couldn't pass through.

"Move." She demanded, flashing them a dangerous look.

"Oh, James, we'd better watch out. Evans told us to move, so that must mean we HAVE to move. Turns out her hair isn't the only fiery thing about her." Sirius said, a mocking edge to his tone.

"Don't get too close, Sirius! She might burn you!" James jeered, grabbing Sirius's arm and pulling him away from Lily.

She refused to let them get to her again.

"YOU got me into trouble!" She accused, her fists clenching together.

James's eyes glinted, and an amused look slid onto his face. He reached his hand up to ruffle his already messy jet-black hair. For some reason, this infuriated Lily further. James took a step closer to her and folded his arms across his chest.

"And that's my problem because?"

It took Lily's best efforts to not stomp her foot to the ground. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and glared at him.

"If you say one more word to me – I'll – "

"You'll do WHAT exactly?" James dared.

"I'll hex your legs together," came a shaking voice from a few feet away.

Severus Snape stood there, his fists balled up and his eyes narrowed. James laughed so hard, he had to hold onto Sirius for support. Severus's pale face flushed bright pink and he turned to Lily.

"C'mon Lily. I'll walk you to class." He muttered, avoiding James and Sirius's scrutiny.

"Yeah, Evans. Go with Snivellus. He'll be able to protect you from – wait, what did she call us, James? Oh, yeah, bullies." Sirius teased, wearing a broad grin.

James was still shaking with laughter as Lily pulled Severus along the corridor, only turning back to spare them a last look of deep disgust.

"Are you okay?" Severus inquired, his voice still uneven and his fists still clenched.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm perfectly fine, Severus. I'm not going to let two half-wits get the best of me."

Severus's lips curled into a little smile, taking the pinched, unattractive look from his face. When he smiled, he actually looked friendly and approachable. Lily always saw him that way, but she saw more than everyone else saw. Especially morons like James and Sirius.

"You should smile more, Sev. I like it when you smile." Lily said as she dragged him along the corridor.

He flushed, though obviously pleased with her comment.

"Anyways, just ignore them. They aren't worth your time. You're much too smart to lower yourself to Black and Potter." Severus said, changing the subject, his voice taking on a nasty edge when he said James and Sirius's last names.

"Trust me, Sev. I would never even think about talking to that scum unless I absolutely had to." She said heatedly, still angry at losing points. "We're going to be late for Herbology, come on."

Snape allowed her to lead him to the greenhouses, pacified by her confirmation.

"The next time I say anything to James Potter or Sirius Black will be when I put a hex on them." Severus promised.

Lily stopped suddenly, causing him to run into her on accident. She turned to him, her large, emerald eyes filled with concern.

"Sev – you have to promise me you won't do anything to hurt anybody. Tuney's still mad at you for the tree branch you dropped on her… she's angry with me, too. That isn't what magic is for. You should be helping people, not hurting them." She said seriously.

He looked hesitant to answer.

"Promise me, Sev!" She said with firm conviction.

He was slightly startled by the force of her usualy calm voice. He gathered himself and looked her straight in the eyes.

"I – I promise, Lily."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N – As said on the previous chapter, this is content I've already uploaded, but I'm redoing it on this account. The only two chapters published initially were this one and the one before on the account WritingAnonymously, to which I've forgotten all of the information. Anyways, after this, it'll be all new content, and I'm hoping to update it every few days, so probably twice to three times a week. Thanks, you guys! Enjoy! (Or don't, I'm just the writer)

Herbology had gone more smoothly than Lily anticipated. The instructor awarded her ten points for answering a particularly difficult question about Devil's Snare. She and Severus stuck to each other like glue, finding a work are as far away from James and Sirius as they could. Lily was disappointed to see that they'd managed to suck Remus Lupin, a seemingly shy but intelligent boy, into their small group of toerags. She also saw Peter Pettigrew, a lumpy boy with no visible talent, tailing after them like a small puppy.

When the bell rang for everyone to go to Potions, Lily noticed Severus's face light up. His gait was bouncier than usual, and the smile that Lily had grown to love was almost visible on his face. He seemed… eager. Lily had to maintain a light jog to keep up with him.

"Sev – Not so fast!" She breathed. "My legs aren't nearly as long as yours!"

He turned back to her, a few strands of hair getting caught in his face. She nearly ran into him, but stopped herself just in time. Severus nearly fell backwards when he saw her small hand suddenly reaching for him. He flinched as she swept the flyaway hair from his face and smiled at him.

She skipped ahead a few feet, leaving him with the expression of being clubbed over the head. He wasn't walking as smoothly, and he tripped over his own feet a time or two to catch up with her.

"C'mon, Sev! You were in such a hurry a moment ago."

She giggled, the sound drawing yet another smile from him.

"R-right." He replied, attempting not to stagger as he caught up with her.

They walked in comfortable silence for a few moments, narrowly avoiding being run over by a group of oncoming fifth year Quidditch players. Lily rolled her eyes. She didn't know a great amount about Quidditch or the people that played, but from what Severus told her, they were a stupid group whose only priorities laid on the pitch. From the looks of the students barreling over unaware people in the hall, Severus was right.

She snorted to herself, thinking how they clearly had no regard for others. She was glad she could find a friend in Severus – someone who matched her intellectually.

"You know, Sev, I don't know what I'd do without you." She said brightly.

His eyes widened.

"What d'you mean?" He asked, avoiding her gaze.

"Well," she began, avoiding yet another rambunctious Quidditch player. "I wouldn't have any friends, for starters."

He turned away from her, attempting to conceal his smile.

"You'd make loads of friends, Lily! You're really smart. You're not like the others."

His sentence took on a bitter edge as James Potter surfaced in his thoughts.

"I'm not half as smart as you, SEv. I didn't know anything before I met you!"

"You'll pick it up, I promise! I know you'll be brilliant at Potions," he breathed, picking up speed at the mention of it. "You were a quick learner when we read those books over the Summer."

"Sev, why are you so excited about Potions?" She wondered aloud, trying to match his pace again.

His eyes brightened, dancing with delight.

"Potion making is one of the most necessary skills you can have," he began, still walking ahead of her. "You can brew literally anything imaginable. You can make someone do anything you want… you can get the truth out of anyone, no matter how hard they try to keep it hidden… you can even put a stop in death."

He spoke quietly, but Lily clung to every word.

"You can create luck and even cause the most excruciating pain possible."

He turned around, stopping in his tracks to meet her gaze. There was something there that Lily couldn't quite put her finger on – something she wasn't necessarily sure she liked. His expression had grown darker, his eyes more narrow than normal, though alight with passion.

"There are love potions so powerful that a person who never even crossed your mind could become the reason for your existence; the only thing you can bother to be fixated upon."

"In that case, I wouldn't touch anything Snivellus offers you, Evans."

Lily didn't even have to turn around to know who was speaking to her. James Potter's annoying, snarky tones were already more deeply embedded into her mind than she would have liked.

"Then again, I don't think even a love potion would make a bloke like _you._"

"While you look for that one, maybe you can find one that'll make you less of an idiot!" She retorted.

Her cheeks flushed as red as her hair. Severus plunged his hands inside his robes, searching clumsily for his wand.

"Don't even bother, Snivellus. S'not like you know anything that would be able to do me any serious damage." James snorted, exchanging a smirk with Sirius.

"You'd be surprised at what I know." Seveurs said, his hands balled into fists and his voice uneven.

"Sev, remember what you promised." Lily warned, recognizing that look on his face.

"Yeah, Snivellus. Do what Evans says. I guess you always take your orders from bossy little girls." Sirius called.

"Sirius." The boy named Remus cautioned.

Sirius threw Remus a glare, but said nothing else. Lily took Severus's hand, leading him away from the other boys. She gave one last dirty look at James, who was wearing a large grin and laughing amongst his mates. Bloody king with no crown. Severus went with her, but pushed her hand aside after being dragged a few more feet. They were silent the rest of the way to the dungeons.

There were hardly any students in the room when they arrived, so they took the opportunity and partnered up at the very front of the room. The professor wasn't there yet, so Lily seized the chance to try and restore a bit of Severus's mood.

"Sev, lighten up. They're not worth your time or thoughts. You told me that earlier; you'd do well to take your own advice." She said gently, taking out her Potion's book.

"I know that." He spat bitterly, shoving his quills to the edge of his desk.

Lily figured she'd wait for him to cool down a bit before trying again. They sat in silence until students began to pour into the room. As she expected, James, Sirius, Remus, and the lumpy boy all sat at the same desk. Lily frowned. She considered it a shame that Remus was associating with the likes of them. He was the type of person she could easily befriend.

James was talking animatedly to the group, pointing occasionally in Lily and Severus's direction. She turned away and wondered if it was going to be a repeat of Transfiguration. Just as she began to worry, a loud noise boomed from the other side of the room.

"Excuse my tardiness," a loud voice called, its owner obscured by a shelf of ingredients. "I was just with Professor Dumbledore discussing a few things and lost track of time."

A rotund man appeared moments later, and Lily immediately recognized him from the feast. She figured he'd be a good teacher, though maybe less strict than the others. She hadn't had a view of him, and now she could see that he had a balding head of straw-colored hair and a large mustache in a similar shade. When her guess about McGonagall being strict turned out to be entirely accurate, she knew she'd be right about this one as well.

"Now, I want to welcome you all to your very first Potions lesson. I am Horace Slughorn; head of Slytherin house."'

Lily noted that Severus sat up a little straighter when he heard this.

"We'll be starting out with a basic Cure for Boils. Instructions can be found on page five of your textbooks. The student who brews the most satisfactory potion will receive fifteen house points. I'm not expecting perfection, but I am positive that if you follow the instructions to the best of your abilities, you'll be able to brew up something well worth the points."

When he was met with blank stares, he clapped his hands.

"Come now, come now! You only have another forty minutes to do this! Get started!"

She heard the chair next to her scrape loudly as Severus made a dash for the cupboard before many of the students had even bothered to pull out their books. Lily scanned the page, grateful that she'd done pre-reading with Severus over the Summer. It didn't look too difficult; not unlike cooking in the Muggle world.

"Just add ingredients and stir," she thought to herself. "It shouldn't be too bad."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder, stood up, and joined Severus at the cupboards. Before she could reach them, she saw James mocking her out of the corner of her eye. She did nothing to let him see she noticed and began pulling out the necessary ingredients. Severus was focusing intently, so she decided against trying to talk to him. Besides, he was already looking a bit cheerier than before.

Lily picked up a jar of Snake Fangs, knocking over a box of Bezoars in the process. She bent down to pick them up, thankful that her hair hid her flushed face. When she looked up, James was right in front of her wearing that annoying smirk. She jumped, startled, and allowed him a glare.

"You should watch what you're doing, Evans." He said, not breaking eye contact with her.

"Just leave me alone." She snapped, standing and shoving the box back into the cupboard.

"Aw, Evans, you're such a stick in the mud. You're no fun." He complained, smiling all the while.

Her eyes narrowed.

"There are better ways to have fun than teasing me, Potter," she said coolly. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to return to my potion."

She felt his eyes burn in the back of her head as she walked back to her desk. She decided she'd forget about the nuisance and concentrate on making the perfect potion. At least, a worthy potion, as Slughorn so eloquently put it. She checked her ingredients to make sure she got everything. Severus was already working diligently, his eyes burning with concentration. Lily consulted her book, frowned, and proceeded with caution.

She measured out six snake fangs and added them to a mortar to be crushed. The pestle was heavy in her hands as she picked it up, and she nearly dropped it back to the table. She took all of her pent up rage against James Potter and channeled it into crushing her snake fangs. Within mere moments, they were reduced to powder.

Once she achieved the correct coarseness of snake fang powder, she carefully added four measures of it to her cauldron. She was somewhat bewildered by how easily this was all coming to her. Of course, all she'd done was crush a few fangs. Even so, she looked around and saw some students having problems with even that simple task. One person's pestle had been knocked out of their hands and onto the unaware partner's toes, resulting in a high pitched shriek and a trip to the hospital wing. Some students didn't bother to crush their fangs at all, and the cauldrons began hissing violently at them like an angry cat who'd been denied tuna.

Throughout the lesson, the instructions never seemed to increase in difficulty. Lily measured correctly, heated the potion at just the right temperature, and brewed what she thought to be a fantastic potion. She'd achieved similar results to Severus, who was looking at his potion like a proud father. The fact that his potion was only a shade or two darker than her own was the only discrepancy.

They both finished earlier than everyone else, so Lily looked around to see if anyone else had similar results. A few people were adding final touches, some were sweating profusely while attempting to rectify simple errors, and others had given up completely, looking dejected and shoving unused ingredients back into jars.

Slughorn looked up from the book he was reading to a clock above his chair.

"Good gracious! Is it that time already? Stop your work." He called.

All activity ceased, and Slughorn stood, straightening his robes. He went from table to table, giving an approving nod to some students and ignoring others completely he was nearly at Lily and Severus's table when her heart started pounding. Her head began to spin with worry as she went through all the possible ways she could have messed up her potion.

She was certain it was correct; she'd followed the instructions to a tee. Perhaps she'd added a snake fang too many? Oh, she knew she over-heated it the first time. What if she didn't put enough horned slugs in? She wrung her hands together in her lap, her face leeched of color.

Slughorn got to Severus's cauldron, and a broad grin appeared on his face. That was a first.

"Merlin's beard – have you brewed this potion before, boy?"

Snape flushed, looked down, and shook his head. Slughorn clapped him on the back, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"I have never seen a Cure for Boils this perfect from any fifth year of mine, let alone a first year! Severus Snape, am I correct?"

His face turned a deeper red, and he made a funny jerking motion with his head that Lily could only assume was a nod. He began to sink in his chair, obviously uncomfortable with thirty pairs of eyes fixed on him. Slughorn ignored this and moved closer to Lily's cauldron. Fearing that she may faint from the anxiety, she clutched her robes and didn't look at him.

"My, my. Miss… Evans?" He inquired, giving the potion a stir.

Lily timidly met his gaze and nodded, hoping she wasn't in trouble, though she couldn't figure out a reason why she would be.

"I daresay this is just as brilliant as the young man next to you."

Color flooded back into her face, and it was all she could do to not sigh in relief.

"This is close," Slughorn declared, taking second glances at both potions. "You know, these are both perfect. Take a well-earned twenty points apiece."

Lily couldn't hide the grin from her face. The bell rang a few moments later, and Slughorn waved his hand in dismissal. Lily hastily gathered the ingredients up to put away, wanting to get a good seat at lunch. She didn't want to be stuck next to Potter outside of classes. She could barely take him in small doses.

"L-Lily?"

It was the first time Severus had spoken to her since the beginning of the lesson, and it gave her quite a turn. Her snake fangs scattered across the table. She frowned, cursing herself for her clumsiness.

"Yeah, Sev?" she asked, distracted as she swept the fangs back into the jar.

"You – you did really well."

He seemed to be struggling for speech; reaching for the right words he wanted to say. Lily beamed at him.

"It's all thanks to you. You're the one who taught me about this stuff over the Summer."

The small smile appeared, and he began to gather his own ingredients.

"I didn't do any of that – that was all you. You're a natural – I didn't teach you any of that. Potions is an art."

A note of pride rang in his voice.

"Well, without you, I would have been completely clueless. We talked about this potion so much, I nearly memorized it. You deserved those points, not me." She replied humbly, stuffing the jars into the cupboard.

"If you were in Slytherin – "

"Sev, don't start."

He sighed.

"I know. Sorry. Won't bring it up again." He mumbled.

Lily looked ahead to see who was left in the room. She thanked her lucky stars that James's group was the first to leave. When she reached the door, she looked back to Severus lingering behind.

"You coming, Sev?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.

He jerked his head up, evidently pulled from a deep thought.

"Y-yeah, I'm coming."

He snatched his bag from his chair and hurried to Lily, nearly tripping in his rush. She giggled.

"Wait a moment – Evans, Snape." Slughorn called behind them.

"Yes, Professor?" Lily asked shyly.

"Neither of you have made that potion before, you're sure?"

He seemed to be extremely dumbfounded, and Lily didn't know whether to be flattered that he was so surprised, or upset that he thought they were liars. Both Severus and Lily shook their heads.

"No sir." Severus mumbled.

Lily gulped, afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"No, sir, I've never made any potion before. You see, I come from a Muggle family."

She turned red when his eyes widened almost comically, as if he'd never heard of such a thing.

"Well, my dear, you possess a great deal of talent to be a Muggle-born!"

Lily must have looked slightly offended, because he quickly tacked on, "No, no – please don't think of me as prejudiced to Purebloods. I'm just shocked that someone who has not constantly been exposed to magic to create such a wonderful potion. As I said, you did beautifully – better than any first year I've ever taught."

Lily blushed, her eyes trained on her feet.

"You as well, my boy. You'll both go far."

It was Severus's turn to stare at his feet, though he was pleased with Slughorn's words of praise.

"Th-thank you, sir." He muttered at the gorund.

"Well, you'd best be off to lunch."

Severus ambled out, clutching his bag tightly to his chest.

"And Miss Evans?" Slughorn added, just as she was nearly out the door.

"Yes?"

"I get a group of students together on occasion – a dinner party, if you will. Would you be interested in attending one? I'm sure you'd fit right in."

Lily nearly dropped her books in shock.

"Of – Of course, sir! Thank you!" She managed to choke out.

He chuckled jovially and his small eyes twinkled.

"I know talent when I see it, and Miss Evans, you have an outrageous amount. Enjoy the rest of your first day."

Slughorn walked to his desk, returning to the book he was reading earlier. Lily took this as a sign to leave, and walked shakily out of the classroom, her legs reduced to jelly.

"What did he want?" Severus asked, looking worried at how unstable she seemed.

Lily was unsure if she should tell him, so she just decided against it.

"Oh, he just wanted to know if, I, uh – If I had any magical relatives at all. Lets' go to lunch so I can get a seat as far away from Potter as possible."

She grabbed his hand just as she'd done earlier, and this time, he didn't let it go.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N – (Long author's note, I'm sorry) I'd like to thank the people who reviewed and did all the wonderful stuff to my little story. To Miss Lily Evans Forever, yes - the aim is to do their entire time at Hogwarts. I'm not entirely sure how it's going to pan out – I won't skip years, but I won't spend as much time on some as I do the others. Either way, it's going to take a while to do, and it'll probably end up erring on the long side. I know where I want to take the story, I just don't have a full plan about every little detail. This fic is a bit of a project of mine, and I'm hoping to cover all Marauder type bases, and I want to do it justice. I may get a few minor details wrong, but I'm going to research as much as I can because I want it to be authentic. I know I'm not the almighty Queen Rowling, but I'm going to try to stay as true to what's been said about the Marauder era as possible and try to avoid inaccurate clichés. Please let me know if you feel I've gotten something wrong based off of information that's been given about the era. One last thing before you continue on to the story – I'm going to try to update every Tuesday and Friday, but I'm in college right now, so that will be a tad unpredictable. I may write more than that a week, I may write less, but either way, I will update at least once a week unless there are dire circumstances in which that cannot be a possibility. Thanks to everyone who's reading, I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy the story! _

The Great Hall was packed by the time Lily and Severus got there, the pair still holding hands. Every table was piled high with a number of decadent foods, and conversation carried on for meters. Lily turned to him, pushing a bright red lock behind her ear.

"So, I guess this is where we part ways, Sev." She said, teasing him a little.

His face fell visibly. He immediately looked at his feet to avoid Lily's gaze and let go of her hand like it burnt him. Lily frowned.

"Sev, I don't want to leave you, but I have to sit at the Gryffindor table."

"I don't need to be babysat, Lily." He snapped back. "I'll be just fine on my own."

"I – I know that, Sev, I was just –" She sighed. There was no use arguing. "I'll see you after lunch."

With that, she turned away from him and set off to the Gryffindor table. She was pleased to see that she recognized a few faces from the night before. She'd sat next to two girls she'd forgotten the name of - a chatty blonde and reserved brunette, both equally friendly despite their clashing personalities. The blonde spotted Lily and tapped the brunette on the shoulder, who turned and gave Lily a wave. The blonde smiled widely, straining to do so because of the amount of food she'd shoveled into her mouth. She beckoned wildly for Lily to come over, patting the spot on the bench right next to her. Lily repressed a giggle at her enthusiasm. She would have thought it was silly, but she was eager to make some friends besides Severus, and the girls seemed to like her.

Lily sat between the two girls, not realizing just how hungry she was before smelling the wonderful aroma of the food in front of her. If there was anything she loved about this school besides the magic bit of it, it was the food. It reminded her of her mother's cooking and how she and Petunia helped her out sometimes. It reminded her of home. Lily was beyond ecstatic to be at Hogwarts, but it was a little strange coming in and barely knowing anything about magic as opposed to other people who'd known about it since birth. This was another reason Lily was glad for having Severus. She would have been completely boggled if he hadn't taken the time to explain a small bit of the vast amount of information about magic. Though it was a small reassurance, the food was the one thing that hadn't changed in her life, and for that, she was grateful.

"Marlene, can you pass the water?" The brunette said, looking at the blonde.

_Marlene! _Lily knew it had to start with an 'M'. Marlene nodded vigorously and swallowed the food in her mouth.

"Here ya go, Char." She said as she handed it over.

Charlotte. That was the other girl's name. Lily remembered from the hazy conversation they'd had at the ceremony. Lily was really pleased they'd reminded her of their names, even if they'd done it unknowingly. By the casual way Marlene mentioned her name, it was clear they'd known each other for a while. Lily tried to ignore the small voice in her head telling her that she'd never be able to find her way in their little friendship circle, but it was hard when they knew each other better than they knew her.

"So," Marlene said between chews. "How's everyone's day going? That last Potion lesson killed me! I nearly melted a hole through the bottom of my cauldron."

Charlotte rolled her eyes.

"That's because you added too many horned slugs. This is what you get for not listening to me."

Marlene waved her hand in dismissal. She turned to Lily and grinned.

"So, seems like Sluggie's got his eye on you, then. How did you learn to do a potion like that? Don't you come from a Muggle family?"

"Marlene!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"What? She does! There's nothing wrong with it, it's only an observation." She said with a shrug.

Lily knew Marlene wasn't trying to offend her, so she gave her a small smile to let her know she wasn't angry. She cleared her throat and nodded.

"No, it's okay. I do come from a Muggle family. I had no idea what magic was until Sev told me about it a few months ago."

"Sev?" Marlene inquired, cocking an eyebrow. "Who's - Oh."

She suddenly set down her fork and pointed at the Slytherin table.

"That boy with the long hair and ginormous schnozzle?"

Charlotte didn't even bother chiding Marlene anymore. It was obvious she couldn't control her friend, so she gave her a look of warning and turned back to Lily, eager to know the answer, too.

"Y-Yeah, Severus Snape. He's my friend."

Marlene covered her mouth, snuffing a giggle before it could escape.

"That's nice. He seems like a lovely boy." Charlotte cut in, then quickly changed the subject. "So you've never brewed a potion before?"

Lily took a bite of food and shook her head.

"Wow, that's incredible. Slughorn seemed really impressed by you. Did he make you stay after class?" She asked, actually wanting to hear what Lily said and not just engaging in small talk.

Lily paused before answering. She didn't know if she should tell them about the dinner party offer, or if it would make her seem like a pretentious girl who sucked up to her teachers for good grades. Like she did with Severus, she didn't mention it and shook her head.

"No, I dropped a few of my ingredients and I had to put them back. That's why I was a bit late."

"D'you think he'll go easier on us if he knows we're friends with Lily?" Marlene asked jovially, nudging Lily's shoulder.

Charlotte cracked a smile.

"I don't think any type of brilliant friend can save you, Marlene. If we have any more repeats of today, I'd be more than willing to bet you'd be on Slughorn's 'avoid' list. He didn't even look at our cauldron because of you!"

Marlene shrugged it off and took a drink.

"Well, not any worse than that Potter bloke." Marlene said, nodding her head to the other end of the table. Lily's eyes narrowed when she saw him messing about with that stupid hair of his and talking loudly with his mates. "His Potion was in worse ruins than ours. His friend was funny about it, though. I like the pair of them, they're a laugh."

Lily tensed up and focused on her food.

"Merlin, Lily. What did those potatoes do to you?" Marlene asked, giggling.

"What? Oh – Erm, nothing."

"You don't like Potter, do you?" Marlene remarked, making it clear that it was a statement and not a question.

Lily glared and shook her head.

"He's done nothing but tease me since I got on the train. I'd go as far to say I hate that imbecile."

Marlene raised her eyebrow.

"Wow, 'imbecile'. He must have really gotten on your nerves, eh?"

"He made me lose points in Transfiguration!"

"Oh, yeah, I remember that. I was sitting a few tables away from him. You have to admit, he did a pretty good job, though. Lucky boy made three needles before I even got my first. I couldn't even get mine to go silver. I think I managed to make it pointy, though."

Charlotte scoffed.

"You didn't make it pointy, you knocked it off the table and it splintered."

"Hey, still pointy." Marlene retorted, shoveling a spoonful of food into her mouth.

"Maybe you'll have better luck in flying lessons."

Marlene grinned.

"Oh, believe me, it won't be luck. I've been flying ever since mum got me one of those little toy broomsticks. I still have it!"

"You won't be using that today, will you?"

Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Of course not, Char. We're not allowed to use our own broomsticks, remember?"

Charlotte chuckled.

"What about you, Lily? Are you excited for flying?"

Lily forgot that they were doing that. There was only one place Lily liked to be, and that was on the ground and stable. The prospect of broomsticks interested her, and she thought that it could possibly be fun. That is, if the person flying it wasn't afraid of heights, which was not Lily at all. Her food turned to cement in her mouth, and swallowing became nearly impossible. Charlotte patted her on the back.

"It's okay, I'm nervous, too. Not all of us can be brilliant like Marlene." She said with a small wink.

Lily decided that she liked these two. She certainly got a kick out of Marlene, and Charlotte seemed to behave a lot like her. She needed some friends besides Severus, anyways. They couldn't be together all the time. Something churned in her stomach as she thought about how Severus would take that news. He hadn't seemed to accept it, and even when Lily had to sit at the Gryffindor table, he turned into a complete grouch. She shook the thought. It was only the first day and they all still had to adjust. They'd spent nearly every day of Summer together, so of course it would be hard to separate, especially in a school as gargantuan as Hogwarts.

"Well, I suppose we'd best be off." Charlotte said after a few moments. "We have to be there in twenty minutes, and I still have no idea where the pitch is."

"Pitch?" Lily asked, confused.

"Quidditch pitch." Marlene said, slinging her bag onto her shoulder. "It's where games are held and flying practice takes place. Somewhere I'm going to be all the time when I make the team."

"First years can't make the team, Marlene." Charlotte said simply, joining her in standing and brushing out her skirt.

"I know that, dimwit. I mean when I DO make it." She stated, flipping her hair over her shoulder and grinning with an air of confidence. "Next year."

Marlene reached out her hand to help Lily up, and Lily smiled at her warmly. She took it and stood, casting a glance over to the Slytherin table. She searched for Severus and spotted him almost immediately. He sat, hunched over a plate with untouched food, skulking. It was going to be worse than she thought. Though it pained her, she looked away and followed an awaiting Marlene and Charlotte, turning her worries to flying.


End file.
